Merkel, TX Climate: Temperature & Rain by Month
Explore NOAA NCEI's 1991–2020 climate normals → and a clearly labeled PlainClimate comfort calculation
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) from Merkel's primary NOAA station, MERKEL 12 SW.
The climate verdict for Merkel
Merkel, Texas has a mixed annual climate rather than one dominant extreme. Its NOAA normal shows an annual average of 63°F. It scores 92/100 for climate comfort (excellent), putting it in the top third of station-mapped location scores and exceeding 92% of them.
- 63°F
- annual average temperature (NOAA normal)
- 92/100
- comfort score, above 92% of station-mapped location scores
- 26.5"
- precipitation, annual total
- 215 days
- frost-free days per growing season
Merkel: NOAA 1991-2020 normals describe a typical year, not a forecast. Method: /methodology.
Normals record plate
Sheet USC00415852 · Merkel, TX 63°F mean · 26.5" precip
TEMP-MILD · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · PRCP-MID · SWING-MID · COMF-TOP · LOAD-MIX · STN-1 · BOOK-FULL
- TEMP-MILD 63°F
- RANK-UPPER #5,763
- PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Aliceville
- PRCP-MID 26.5"
- SWING-MID 39°F
- COMF-TOP 92/100
- LOAD-MIX H/C balanced
- STN-1 USC00415852
- BOOK-FULL 6/6 fields
Nearest mean-temperature peer: Aliceville, AL (+ 0 °F mean)
Instrument codes from this station's NOAA 1991–2020 normals, mean temperature, corpus warmth rank, photo-finish peer station, precipitation band, seasonal swing, comfort composite, degree-day load, and field book, not a livability rating.
Mean-temperature neighbourhood
Nationwide NOAA normal poles and nearest peers, not a reprint of every TX station list.
- Merkel (this station) 63°F
- Hot Benson, AZ 63°F
- Near Aliceville, AL 63°F
- Near Aurora, NC 63°F
- Near Bastrop, LA 63°F
Merkel sits in Texas, the #4 hottest U.S. state at 66.2°F statewide annual average - see all 50 hottest states ranked by NOAA normals
Climate Living Index · Merkel
Merkel: 71/100 · grade B
Merkel publishes 4 of 6 Living Index dimensions (NOAA annual/seasonal normals · NOAA daily multivariate normals); 2 missing weights rescale to 100.
PlainClimate-derived for Merkel, not an official NOAA rating. Rankings still use Comfort Score 92/100 (separate formula). Breakpoints and limits.
| Dimension | Station value | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Annual temperature balance | 63.3°F · 4.2° from 67.5°F | 87/100 · A |
| Frost-free season | 215 days/year | 75/100 · B |
| Precipitation balance | 26.5 in · 8.5 from 35 in | 70/100 · B |
| Normal heat + freeze calendar | 138 calendar days | 54/100 · D |
Merkel · 2026-08-04 · NOAA NCEI Climate Normals · method · Comfort Score method.
Merkel is a temperate Köppen climate: Cfa
Coldest-month mean 43.5°F and warmest-month mean 82.1°F place this station in temperate, no dry season, hot summer climates (Cfa). Class Cfa is the Peel et al. (2007) label for this station's monthly mean temperature and precipitation normals: temperate, specifically temperate, no dry season, hot summer.
- Köppen code
- Cfa
- Group
- Temperate
- Warmest month
- 82.1°F
- Coldest month
- 43.5°F
Source: official public datasets monthly normals (1991–2020) at the city’s primary station. This is a station classification, not a mapped regional consensus.
National standing · balanced station
Where Merkel sits across the climate record
Three NOAA fields for Merkel's primary station, temperature, precipitation, and seasonal swing, are ranked against every station-mapped normal that carries the same field.
- Annual temperature
- Top 16% warmest
- Among 6,861 stations, Merkel sits in the warmer third of annual means.
- Annual precipitation
- 36th percentile wetness
- Neither arid nor torrential versus 6,352 station totals.
- Seasonal temperature swing
- Narrower than 70%
- Warmest-to-coldest month gap for Merkel is compact versus 6,861 complete station-years.
How Merkel compares across U.S. station-mapped locations
Merkel's comfort score vs. all station-mapped locations
PlainClimate composite comfort index (1–100), NOAA 1991–2020 normals
92 Top 8% score exceeds 92% of 6,189 station-mapped location scores
- 0–10: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 10–20: 0 station-mapped locations (0%). Below this entry.
- 20–30: 96 station-mapped locations (2%). Below this entry.
- 30–40: 280 station-mapped locations (5%). Below this entry.
- 40–50: 1,113 station-mapped locations (18%). Below this entry.
- 50–60: 1,329 station-mapped locations (21%). Below this entry.
- 60–70: 1,236 station-mapped locations (20%). Below this entry.
- 70–80: 650 station-mapped locations (11%). Below this entry.
- 80–90: 921 station-mapped locations (15%). Below this entry.
- 90–100: 564 station-mapped locations (9%). This entry sits in this band.
Source NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, PlainClimate comfort index · 1991–2020
Monthly Temperatures
Average daily high and low temperatures by month
| Month | Avg High | Avg Low | Mean | Precip | Freeze Days | 90°F+ Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56°F (13°C) | 31°F (0°C) | 44°F (6°C) | 1.1" | 19.9 | 0.0 |
| February | 61°F (16°C) | 33°F (1°C) | 47°F (8°C) | 1.5" | 15.2 | 0.2 |
| March | 69°F (21°C) | 41°F (5°C) | 55°F (13°C) | 1.8" | 5.9 | 0.4 |
| April | 78°F (25°C) | 49°F (9°C) | 63°F (17°C) | 1.9" | 1.7 | 3.6 |
| May | 85°F (29°C) | 59°F (15°C) | 72°F (22°C) | 3.4" | 0.1 | 10.4 |
| June | 91°F (33°C) | 67°F (19°C) | 79°F (26°C) | 3.2" | 0.0 | 20.5 |
| July | 94°F (35°C) | 70°F (21°C) | 82°F (28°C) | 2.0" | 0.0 | 25.2 |
| August | 93°F (34°C) | 69°F (21°C) | 81°F (27°C) | 2.9" | 0.0 | 24.4 |
| September | 86°F (30°C) | 62°F (17°C) | 74°F (24°C) | 3.2" | 0.0 | 12.0 |
| October | 78°F (25°C) | 51°F (11°C) | 65°F (18°C) | 2.6" | 2.0 | 2.4 |
| November | 66°F (19°C) | 40°F (4°C) | 53°F (12°C) | 1.5" | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| December | 57°F (14°C) | 33°F (0°C) | 45°F (7°C) | 1.4" | 15.5 | 0.0 |
The year, day by day
Merkel works both ends of the calendar. Normal highs climb to 95°F by July 26 and hold at or above 90°F on 87 dates, then normal lows drop to freezing or below on 51 dates, bottoming at 31°F around January 14.
When the heat sits
Normal highs reach 90°F from June 7 through September 1, covering 87 dates. The broader mild season, normal highs of 70°F or more, runs March 19 to November 5.
This counts calendar dates whose 1991–2020 normal high reaches 90°F. It is a smaller number than the 90°F+ day counts in the monthly table above, which measure how often the threshold was actually crossed in a typical year. A date can average 88°F and still exceed 90°F in half of all years.
The freezing stretch
The normal low stays at or below 32°F into February 8, then returns to freezing around December 20, covering 51 dates in all.
Derived from the normal daily minimum. This is a different measure from the 50%-probability frost dates shown elsewhere on this page, which come from NOAA’s frost product.
The widest day
April 8 carries the biggest normal gap between afternoon and dawn, 29°F between the normal high and the normal low.
Look up any date
Any date's 1991–2020 normal for Merkel.
Where Merkel Stands Nationally
Heat is a defining feature of the normals calendar — the normal daily high reaches 90°F on roughly 87 days a year, more than four out of five ranked stations record.
Merkel earns one nationally notable standing (outer quintile) against 6,860 NOAA 1991–2020 normals stations, middle-of-the-pack metrics stay silent here.
Monthly Precipitation
Average monthly rainfall
Merkel spreads its precipitation across the year
Neither half of the year dominates here: June through August take 30% of the annual total and December through February 15%, with neither reaching the 35% that would mark a distinct wet season. Merkel has no dry season to plan around, though it does carry a 38.6°F seasonal spread.
The gap between the wettest and driest month still matters: May averages 3.4" and January 1.1". The three wettest months together take 37% of the year, against the 25% a perfectly flat distribution would give them.
Shares are computed from this station's own 1991-2020 monthly precipitation normals. "Spread across the year" means neither the June-August nor the December-February share reaches 35%; it describes an average year, not the variability of any single one.
Frost Dates & Growing Season
First Fall Freeze
November 3
50% probability date
Last Spring Freeze
April 2
50% probability date
Growing Season
215 days
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Annual totals indicate energy demand for heating and cooling
Heating Degree Days
2,785
Higher = more heating needed
Cooling Degree Days
2,209
Higher = more cooling needed
Warmest Month
July
Coldest Month
January
Nationwide similar cities
Other rankable U.S. places outside TX closest to Merkel on two NOAA annual-normal axes (mean temperature and annual precipitation). Chip rows use distinct link sets.
Closest by average temperature
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual mean temperature (63°F here).
- Aliceville, AL 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Aurora, NC 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Bastrop, LA 63°F · 0.0°F off
- Benson, AZ 63°F · 0.0°F off
Closest by annual precipitation
Nearest out-of-state peers by annual precipitation (26.5" here), excluding temperature-peer places.
- Chemult, OR 26.5" · 0.0" off
- Franklin, NE 26.5" · 0.0" off
- Bison, KS 26.5" · 0.0" off
- Ericson, NE 26.6" · 0.0" off
Data-derived climate profile
How Merkel's climate pattern fits together
mixed demand · moderate · mid swing
July and January mark the typical warm and cold ends of the calendar in Merkel's middle-range seasonal profile. The measured spread is 38.6°F. The annual average is 63°F. Neither the annual mean nor one extreme month represents the full calendar on its own.
Heating and cooling both register in Merkel's normal, at 2,785 and 2,209 degree days respectively. Neither total exceeds the other by more than two to one, so the record is better read as a mixed-demand calendar than as heating-led or cooling-led.
A roughly 215-day frost-free season sits inside this mixed heating-and-cooling profile. Start and end dates matter because both sides of the thermostat register during a normal year.
Merkel's 26.5 inches of annual precipitation falls in PlainClimate's middle band, so “wet” or “dry” is not the leading description. Snowfall is not added to the interpretation because its annual value is missing. Temperature balance and the calendar distribution carry more information than the annual moisture label alone.
These labels group NOAA 1991-2020 normals from Merkel's primary station, where heating and cooling demand are close enough that neither season sets the character on its own. On a balanced station like Merkel, the bands are descriptive ranges rather than an official NOAA classification or a forecast.
Questions about Merkel's climate
How much rain does Merkel get? ▼
How many days above 90°F does Merkel get? ▼
How much energy does heating and cooling require in Merkel? ▼
Data Sources
Data source: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals v1.0.1 (1991-2020). All figures on this page are from Merkel's primary station: MERKEL 12 SW (USC00415852). For informational purposes only.
Place identity: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer places. The 2024 Census Gazetteer identifies the exact name-and-state match as an incorporated place (GEOID 4847796). Match rule for Merkel: exact normalized name + state only, no fuzzy expansion, so nearby differently spelled facilities stay unmatched.
On this page every temperature, precipitation, and derived score for Merkel comes from its primary NOAA station record. No figure on this page is typed in by an editor - each value is rendered from NOAA 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 1991–2020 normals.